The 1948 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XIV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in London, United Kingdom. After a 12-year hiatus because of World War II, these were the first Summer Olympics since the 1936 Games in Berlin. The 1940 Games had been scheduled for Tokyo, and then Helsinki; the 1944 Games had been provisionally planned for London. This was the second occasion that London had hosted the Olympic Games, the city had previously been the venue in 1908. The Olympics are scheduled to return to London in 2012.The event came to be known as the Austerity Games due to the economic climate and post-war rationing. No new venues were built for the games and athletes were housed in existing accommodation instead of an Olympic Village. A record 59 nations were represented by 4,104 athletes, 3,714 men and 390 women, in 19 sport disciplines. Because of their roles as aggressors in World War II Germany and Japan were not invited to participate; the USSR were invited but chose not to send any athletes. The United States team won the most total medals, 84, and the most gold medals, 38. The host nation won 23 medals, three of them gold.
One of the star performers at the Games was Dutch sprinter Fanny Blankers-Koen. Nicknamed "The Flying Housewife" the 30-year old mother of three children won four gold medals in athletics. In the decathlon American Bob Mathias became the youngest male ever to win an Olympic gold medal at the age of 17. The most individual medals were won by Veikko Huhtanen of Finland who took three golds, a silver and a bronze in men's gymnastics.
OPENEING CERMONY
The Games opened on 29 July, a brilliantly sunny day. Army bands began playing at 2 pm for the 85,000 spectators in Wembley Stadium. The international and national organisers arrived at 2.35 pm and King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, with Queen Mary and other members of the Royal Family, at 2.45 pm. Fifteen minutes later the competitors entered the stadium in a procession that took 50 minutes. The last team was that of the United Kingdom. When it had passed the saluting base, Lord Burghley began his welcome:
- Your Majesty: The hour has struck. A visionary dream has today become a glorious reality. At the end of the worldwide struggle in 1945, many institutions and associations were found to have withered and only the strongest had survived. How, many wondered, had the great Olympic Movement prospered?
At 4 pm, the time shown on Big Ben on the London Games symbol, the King declared the Games open, 2,500 pigeons were set free and the Olympic Flag raised to its 35 ft (11 m) flagpole at the end of the stadium. The Royal Horse Artillery sounded a 21-gun salute and the last runner in the Torch Relay ran a lap of the track – created with cinders from the domestic coal fires of Leicester – and climbed the steps to the Olympic cauldron. After saluting the crowd, he turned and lit the flame. After more speeches, Donald Finlay of the British team (given his RAF rank of Wing Commander) took the Olympic Oath on behalf of all competitors. The National Anthem was sung and the massed athletes turned and marched out of the stadium, led by Greece, tailed by Britain.
The 580-page official report concluded:
- Thus were launched the Olympic Games of London, under the most happy auspices. The smooth-running Ceremony, which profoundly moved not only all who saw it but also the millions who were listening-in on the radio throughout the world, and the glorious weather in which it took place, combined to give birth to a spirit which was to permeate the whole of the following two weeks of thrilling and intensive sport.
SPORTS
- Athletics
- Basketball
- Boxing
- Canoeing
- Cycling
- Diving
- Equestrian
- Fencing
- Field hockey
- Football
- Gymnastics
- Lacrosse
- Modern pentathlon
- Rowing
- Sailing
- Shooting
- Swimming
- Water polo
- Weightlifting
- Wrestling
No new venues were built for the Games. A cinder track was laid inside Wembley Stadium and all other venues were adapted. For the first time at the Olympics swimming events were held undercover, at the 8000 capacity Empire Pool. As the pool was longer than the standard Olympic length of 50 metres a platform was constructed across the pool which both shortened it and housed officials. In 2010 the last remaining venue from the Games, the Herne Hill Velodrome where cycling events were staged, was saved when a new 15-year lease was agreed meaning that repairs could take place. Campaigners and users of the track had feared that it would be forced to close as it was in desperate need of refurbishment.
- Wembley Empire Exhibition Grounds
- Empire Stadium – opening and closing ceremonies, athletics, equestrian (jumping), football finals, field hockey finals
- Empire Pool – boxing, diving, swimming, water polo
- Palace of Engineering – fencing
- Other venues
- Empress Hall, Earl's Court – boxing preliminaries, wrestling, weightlifting, gymnastics
- Harringay Arena, Harringay – basketball & wrestling
- Royal Regatta Course, Henley-on-Thames – canoeing, rowing
- Herne Hill Velodrome, Herne Hill – track cycling
- Windsor Great Park – cycling road race
- Central Stadium, Military Headquarters, Aldershot – equestrian (jumping), modern pentathlon (riding, fencing, swimming)
- Tweseldown Racecourse – equestrian (dressage, eventing)
- Arsenal Stadium, Highbury – football preliminaries
- Selhurst Park – football preliminaries
- Craven Cottage, Fulham – football preliminaries
- Ilford – football preliminaries
- Griffin Park, Brentford – football preliminaries
- Champion Hill, Dulwich – football preliminaries
- Green Pond Road Stadium, Walthamstow – football preliminaries
- White Hart Lane, Tottenham – football preliminaries
- Lyons' Sports Club, Sudbury – field hockey preliminaries
- Guinness Sports Club, Park Royal – field hockey preliminaries
- Polytechnic Sports Ground, Chiswick – field hockey preliminaries
- National Rifle Association Ranges, Bisley – shooting, modern pentathlon (shooting)
- Finchley Lido, Finchley – water polo preliminaries
- English Channel, Torbay – yachting
- Fratton Park, Portsmouth – football preliminaries
- Goldstone Ground, Brighton – football preliminaries
- Royal Military Academy – modern pentathlon (running)
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